In use, modern electronic devices are subject to a wide range of different environmental effects, including temperature extremes, humidity, physical contamination, and potential loss or damage due to physical hazards including dropping, shock, compression and impact. These considerations can be particularly relevant to portable electronic and mobile device applications, where sensitive control and display components may be exposed to the external environment, increasing the risk of damage due to accident or misuse.
A number of alternatives have been advanced to address these concerns, but there remains a need for improved techniques suitable for advanced consumer electronics and other digital device applications, without all the limitations of the prior art. In particular, there is a need for active drop damage mitigation and impact countermeasure systems, suitable for modern electronic devices designed for an ever-wider range of operating environments, and exposed to a correspondingly wider range of environmental risk factors, including dropping, shock, compression, impact, and other potentially adverse operational effects.